What are the costs of hiring a car accident lawyer, and can I afford one?
For many people, the cost of engaging a car accident lawyer is prohibitive. In addition, many people feel that attorney fees for vehicle accidents are complicated. This post will go through the lawyer fee structure and what you may expect to pay if you hire a personal injury lawyer to represent you in an insurance claim.
If you’ve been hurt in an accident, you can, fortunately, get the skilled legal help you need. This is due to the fact that most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis.
What are the costs of a contingency?
You don’t have to pay anything upfront when you get paid on a contingency basis. The lawyer is only paid at the end of the procedure and only if you are successful in reaching a settlement. They will not be paid for their services if they do not reach an agreement.
Lawyers that handle car accidents in Canada
Verkhovets Law Firm – lawyers that you can afford
What is the cost of the contingency fee?
The rate varies a little. The size of the prospective settlement, the type of claim, and market conditions are all considerations to consider. Fees for car accident lawyers can range from 33 to 45 percent of the total settlement amount.
Let’s say your personal injury lawyer secures you a $100,000 settlement with a 35% contingency fee. Does this imply that you will receive $65,000 and your lawyer will receive $35,000? That’s not the case. Your attorney will deduct disbursements from the settlement amount first.
What are disbursement fees, and how do you calculate them?
The different automobile accident lawyer expenses incurred during the process of resolving a claim are referred to as disbursement fees. Photocopying and postal costs, costs for accident reports, medical charts, medical reports, court filing fees (if applicable), and so on are all included in these disbursement fees. All of these fees are itemized on the lawyer’s final bill to the client.
The settlement funds are provided to your injury lawyer whenever a settlement is reached with the defendant (or, more commonly, the defendant’s insurance company). Your lawyer holds these funds in trust for you. He or she then totals the amount and releases the remaining funds to you.
Example of a fee estimate for an injury lawyer
For example, here’s what a final bill may look like (with a 35% contingency fee):
The sum of the settlement is $100,000.
- Faxes, photocopying, and postage are included in the disbursements, which total $600.00.
- $1000.00 for a chart copy from Medical Clinic.
- $250.00 for a chart copy from Health Services
- $1850.00 in total disbursements
Fees owed under the contingency agreement: ($100,000 – $1850) x 35% = $34,352.50
GST on fees totals $1717.60
$37,920.10 in total fees, disbursements, and GST
$37,920.10 would be deducted from the $100,000 settlement sum in the example above. You, as the client, would receive a $62,079.90 check.
